Site icon Shia Tent

The Doctrines of Alawites

The basics of the doctrines of Alawites are discussed in this post.

The Nusayris-ʿAlawis, whose history and origins were discussed in the previous post, have remained a secretive, esoteric community, observing taqiyya and closely guarding the religious doctrines of Alawites. Even within their community, Nusayri teachings are accessible only to the initiated members (khassa), as distinct from the uninitiated masses (ʿamma), while women are excluded from the initiation process. Every male member of the community has the right, on attaining adulthood, usually at    the age of eighteen, to become initiated

Religious duties: Based on the doctrines of Alawites, the religious duties of the Nusayris-ʿAlawis, of both the initiated and uninitiated members of the community, are limited to moral obligations of a general nature. The Nusayris also participate in certain religious practices such as pilgrimages (ziyarat) to the tombs of Nusayri saints.

The basis of the doctrines of Alawites:

Aspects of Nusayri teachings are to be found in the Kitab al-haft wa’l-azilla, a Mufaddali–Nusayri text that takes the form of a dialogue between Imam Jaʿfar al-Sadiq and al-Mufaddal b. ʿUmar al-Juʿfi

The divine trinity of the Nusayriyya has been incarnated not only in historical but also in mythical persons, including biblical figures and others from the Greek, Iranian and Islamic traditions

In the seventh and final era, that of Islam or al-qobba al- Muhammadiyya, the divine trinity is represented by ʿAli as the maʿna, Muhammad as the ism or hijab, and Salman al-Farsi as the bab.

Taken from: A History of Shiʿi Islam

By: Farhad Daftary

Exit mobile version